


Leverage, Season 4, Episode 1, The Long Way Down Job

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Leverage
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s04e01 The Long Way Down Job, Meta, Nonfiction, Season Premiere, Season/Series 04, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:32:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Leverage, Season 4, Episode 1, The Long Way Down Job

Open to a man making a video message for his wife about his mountain trip.

Then, in Alaska, a grumpy Eliot meets Nate at the mountain resort, and dialogue establishes it’s been less than two weeks since last season.

There’s a flashback to Nate talking to the dead man’s wife in the bar. She believes his business partner played a part in him disappearing during his mountain trip. The business partner was doing shady, quasi-legal stuff, and after the mountain trip, their house was broken into.

Back in the present, Nate talks about how climbing is often a rich person’s thing. They’ll pay to be flown halfway up the mountain, and then, they’ll pay to have their luggage carried as they climb the rest of the way.

As someone who will never climb a mountain ever, I’m lowkey insulted on behalf of people who genuinely put time, effort, and passion into doing so.

Sophie comes over, and given how she and Nate finally slept together last episode, their tension-filled dance has not abated. In fact, in this episode, it’s gotten even more prominent.

Meanwhile, Eliot and Hardison hug, and Eliot’s cool with it until Hardison more-or-less tries to burrow into his skin. Hardison, it turns out, is not down for this Alaskan cold weather.

Parker appears, and she and Hardison will have their own tension this episode based on whatever did or didn’t happen since she declared she was in the mood for pretzels two episodes ago. Sophie asks Nate, “Just how dangerous is this gig you took without checking with us first?”

There’s a flashback to Hardison laying out to Nate how extremely dangerous it is. Heh.

In the present, Nate explains the dead man might have a notebook on him containing proof of his business partner’s shadiness.

Sophie’s left to deal with the business partner, and Eliot and Parker are sent up the mountain to try to track down the corpse. Privately, Eliot is worried about Nate being up this high, and there’s a reference to Nate’s alcoholism thrown in.

Hardison tries to convince Parker he should go with her, but she shuts this down. Then, he wants a hug from Parker before she leaves, and in a moment I missed until I read about it, Eliot gives him a quick hug. Aw.

Then, the client shows up, and Nate is not happy.

There’s a shot of Parker and Eliot going up the mountain, and I don’t know which one is which. At times, it looks like the person in front is leading the person behind by a leash, and other times, it looks like the one in the back is controlling the leash. And I know there’s no actual leashes involved, it’s safety rope, but this is what it looks like.

It turns out mountain climbing is classified by some as a sport. I didn’t know this until I started my review, but yeah, that checks out. For anyone just tuning in, I’m not the person anyone should read to get an accurate recap of anything sports or battle-related.

Back to Nate, Hardison, and the client, she declares she should be helping due to being an experienced climber herself and knowing the route her husband would have taken, and Nate counters she’s too emotionally invested to be involved.

Hardison challenges him on this, and so, he switches to: If the shady business partner sees her, it might ruin things.

Giving her an earbud, he says she can watch and listen, but otherwise, she needs to stay out of their plans.

Chiming in, Sophie asks for the client rather than Hardison to give details on the people Sophie describes. Then, Sophie asks Nate to come help her, but he’s busy babysitting the client.

After stealing SBP’s phone to enter her number and picture, Sophie then slaps him after slyly returning it. She accuses him of never calling her after they shared a tent together once.

“She’s kinda scary,” the client comments.

“You have no idea,” Nate says.

Up on the mountain, Eliot has found a footprint of a Russian.

“Seriously,” Parker and I inquire.

He continues leading her on the leash, and it’s shown someone is watching them.

There’s a moment I like where Sophie and Nate are talking, but despite her making an effort to talk quietly, SBP does hear her say something.

Other than this, it turns out Nate’s plan to babysit didn’t work as the client just quietly slipped out with some tech to go up the mountain herself.

Noticing, he decides to go after her, and despite everyone objecting, he does so.

Sophie and Hardison realise SBP is doing more shady business.

Meanwhile, Nate’s attempt to go after the client- I’d hope I wouldn’t collapse the way he does so soon, but I can’t say I wouldn’t.

Eliot and Parker stop, and the former and Hardison argue over the fact that the body Hardison insists should be there isn’t.

Suddenly, the ground opens up underneath them.

To make things even worse, Hardison loses contact with everyone up on the mountain.

Nate comes across the unconscious client, and he gives her some of the air he’s carrying around. I don’t know if mountaineers typically carry air or if Team Leverage just knew they’d need some. Giving her the air, however, results in him joining her in unconsciousness.

Luckily, the client woke up, and she was able to drag him back to the camp. She explains she twisted something, kept going, and then, hyperventilated.

This is a nice scene. Of course, Nate is never fully going to heal from losing Sam, but he’s managed to work through a lot of his anger. This woman, though, her husband’s death is too recent. She’s hurt, she doesn’t even have a body to fully grieve over, and knowing there’s a chance this wasn’t a tragic, unavoidable accident, she’s angry.

And Nate understands. He empathises. He isn’t angry or smug. She feels guilty for almost getting them both killed, but he makes it clear he truly doesn’t hold this against her.

What Nate can do to help is do right by her husband’s memory. Her husband was against SBP, and they’re going to take SBP down. The body isn’t really that important. It might give her a little closure, but she’ll never get as much closure as she can until those responsible for her husband’s death are exposed for what they did to both her husband and her.

It’s not fully justice, but in cases like these, there is no full justice. A person can be made to pay, and they often should be, but in a just world, the person or people they wronged wouldn’t have been wronged so irrevocably in the first place. The dead can’t be risen, the echoes of trauma will always linger even after being worked through, and the oppressed will always carry scars even after they’re freed.

This is all he can do to help her. It may or may not be enough, but if it’s not, he’ll be sad but not condemning.

Taking down EFB wasn’t enough, and some part of him is afraid nothing ever will be, but now, him going up the mountain by himself wasn’t done with apathetic self-destruction or fuelled by anger.

Underground, Eliot and Parker find the body. Parker is deeply affected, and Eliot is trying to be all business. Explaining how and why the man died, he takes the notebook. “We gotta get out of here.”

“And him,” she insists.

Meanwhile, Sophie is annoyed at Hardison’s constant attempts to contact his future spouses. She does her grifter thing.

Back in the cave, Parker has found the dead man’s phone, and Parker asks about watching the last video on it.

“That’s for his wife, Parker. That’s not for us.”

He lays out his plan: She’ll go up, get him up, and then, they’ll try to get the body up.

I do largely understand Eliot’s mindset here, but: He knows the body isn’t coming up. First priority is get Parker to safety, and second priority is to try to stay alive himself.

However, he’s trying to avoid her realising this, and this isn’t exactly good.

Over to camp, Hardison and Sophie are talking via earbud when SBP confronts Sophie. She reveals his newest business plan has been screwed, and Nate and the client come in.

Sophie kisses the exhausted Nate, and he’s all, ‘I might be dying.’ Her response, “Well, then, do it quickly.” Heh.

Underground, Parker has a breakdown when she realises they can’t bring the body with them.

Back with Sophie and Nate, Nate says they could destroy SBP, but they’re willing to work with him instead.

Back with Eliot and Parker, I both really like these scenes and have some reservations.

When it comes to morality, I’ve always considered Parker to be largely amoral. Her non-violently stealing things other people don’t need isn’t completely victimless, but I’d rather someone along the lines of a rapist or domestic abuser get hard prison time than someone who does what she does. She’s socially awkward, but she is rarely malicious in this. The only people she’s physically hurt are those who are a physical threat to her or the others.

I don’t think this scene was meant to be framed as her thinking Hardison is too good for her, but it comes across this way at times.

I like Parker evolving. I really liked The Inside Job, and if the poly trio didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have a problem with the ship of Parker/Hardison by itself. I just don’t like the implication Parker thinks she needs to change to be worthy of Hardison. In The Inside Job, her connection to Nate played a part in her deciding to change, but it was more she had realised she wanted to do what he does than her wanting to please/be worthy of him.

What I do like is Eliot telling Parker neither of them need to change. I don’t agree with his statement the others, especially Hardison, would have died trying to get the corpse out, but what I hear underneath is: I’m willing to get my hands dirty, and you’re able to take the emotional component out of things when necessary. The others, especially Hardison, need people like us who will do whatever is necessary to protect them. We can hate ourselves for being the kind of people who are like this, or we can be glad the people we love have the kind of people we are looking out for them.

For all my problems with The San Lorenzo Job, I loved the scene where Eliot was asked if he’d ever leave any of Team Leverage behind, and the expression on his face when he looked at Parker was answer enough. As I’ve said before, I don’t think Eliot and Parker would have ever developed romantically/sexually without Hardison in the mix, but neither Hardison or her status as Nate’s heir has anything to do with the love they’ve developed for one another.

She insists on playing the last message just in case the husband wanted them to do something for him, and he says, “Fair enough.”

Over at camp, they come back online, and Hardison is so relieved. He contacts Nate, and Nate starts to head over only to be punched by SPB.

On the mountain, Parker is captured, and the Russian demands the notebook. Against her fake protests, Eliot hands it over, and the Russian gleefully burns it.

Coming into Hardison’s tent, SPB uses Hardison to contact the Russian.

Next, the husband’s last message is played to everyone at camp, and he accuses SPB of killing him by cutting his rope and leaving him behind.

SPB is arrested, and at the end of the message, the husband gives a heartfelt goodbye to his wife.

“You did it,” Eliot tells Parker. “You brought him back to her.”

Hardison comes in, and Parker hugs him.

Later, at headquarters, Parker makes it clear things aren’t going to be normal between her and Hardison, but he counters normal is whatever works best for them. Aw.

Eliot is cooking, and coming down the stairs, Nate comments that he sees they’re all eating together at his table in his home again.

He really needs to stop being surprised and exasperated when his daughter, her two future husbands, and his future wife all decide to stay in with him.

When the kids have sat down, he and Sophie talk privately, and it’s decided they’re going to ignore the fact they slept together.

All the domesticity is interrupted, however, by Hardison realising the place has been bugged.

Fin.


End file.
